Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a survey and an interpretation of the transformation of Egyptian agriculture from 1800 to the present. It focuses on the interaction of agricultural technical change, rural social classes, and government policy. The book examines the role of the international economic and state systems in generating the pattern of Egyptian agricultural development. Numerous other works on various aspects of Egyptian economic history are available, studies of the current state of the Egyptian economy are also legion. The book aims to made extensive use of both sorts of work. The book deals with an analysis of the crisis of eighteenth century Mamluk society. It traces the transformation of social relations and agrarian technology in Egypt from the first decade of the nineteenth century down to the British intervention.